Saturday, January 19, 2008

I’ve always secretly had a huge crush on Midlake’s music, where my first encounter with it was through radio, which soon turned out to be the first and the last time I ever heard them being played on the radio again. The band was the most underrated I’ve ever heard of at the time, but spun out incredibly wonderful music that’s magic and enthralling. I’ve always thought that Midlake sounded a lot like the Texas version of the Scottish band, Travis, but with songs that substitutes the polished pop sounds with those that are often more raggedy and roughly frayed at the ends.

Singer/songwriter for Midlake, Tim Smith says that the music contained in their stellar sophomore, The Trials of Van Occupanther particularly draws out the 70’s folk rock influence. The vibe that the record exudes holds nothing to comparison in the recent music scene today; listening to ‘Roscoe’ and ‘Young Bride’, despite of its gloominess, instantly makes you feel disconnected from reality, flinging you far away to some place that could probably only exist in your mind's eye.

‘Mornings Will be Kind’ comes from their latest creation, The Oak and Julian EP. The organ sounding instrument, that beams in through at the beginning is melodramatic and 80’s like, where then Smith’s reassuring vocals starts to chime through, while singing out to you how mornings will be kind. The Oak and Julian EP contains b-sides and outtakes, as well as alternate edits to the songs that have already been released. It’s perfectly audible as to why this song was not included in their previous record, but not because it wasn’t as good, but perhaps it was because the track couldn’t complete the record’s whole intended feel. As the song progresses and the beats begin to grow, the lyrics starts to smoothly flow through, while tepidly sung. It’s impeccably short and sweet, satisfying every little bit of taste buds in your ear.

p/s: I remebered looking at that picture way back, and saying to myself, that guy at the far right reminds me of Jason Lee from the 'My Name is Earl' fame. And then I realized and told myself, "Self, that is Jason Lee".